The 1869 Society is a corporate giving society with businesses of all sizes that are committed philanthropic supporters of the greatest areas of need for Purdue Athletics. Join us as one of the first 1,869 participants to be considered a Founding Member.
University enrollment is at an all-time high of 52,211 students, and Purdue Athletics has been one of the primary drivers of its growth and popularity. Annually, approximately one million alumni, fans, and friends spend time in athletic venues. In order to continue this legacy, we have created this society to engage corporations both philanthropically as well as in a way that assists with the development of Purdue student-athletes beyond their time on campus.
Make an investment of $5,000 or more to impact the lives of the student-athletes you cheer on, see as role models, and may hire one day. By doing so, you will receive a variety of associated benefits outlined below.
for May 2024 student-
athlete graduates
across 18 boilermaker sport programs
*Payable and accessible over a five-year period, subject to availability and will be reviewed annually.
All benefits of the $5,000+ level, plus:
All benefits of the $5,000+ and $25,000+ levels, plus:
Patsy earned a bachelor’s degree in food and nutrition in business from Purdue in 1969, in addition to an MBA in food marketing from Michigan State University in 1970. She retired from Kraft Foods in 2006 after 36 years in corporate food marketing and marketing communications management.
A community volunteer, Patsy serves on the Women’s Fund of Central Indiana Advisory Board and the Purdue College of Health and Human Sciences Dean’s Leadership Council, in addition to the President’s Council Advisory Board. She is a former member of the Health and Human Sciences Alumni Board. Patsy held several offices from 2006 through 2013, including president and treasurer. She serves her community’s Discover Indianapolis Club in Fishers, holding several leadership roles for over 10 years.
Patsy has received several honors, including the Purdue University Nutrition Science Department Hall of Fame recipient in 2009 and the Purdue University College of Health and Human Sciences Distinguished Alumni Award in 2016. She also received the college’s Gold and Black Award in 2016, an honor reserved for donors who have moved the college forward by committing exceptional financial resources.
In addition to endowing two scholarships, the Patsy J. Mellott Scholarship and Patsy J. Mellott HHS Scholarship, she established the Patsy J. Mellott Teaching Innovation Award in the College of Health and Human Sciences in 2013. In 2015, she endowed the Patsy J. Mellott Women’s Tennis Coach Performance Award. She is a lead donor in the Christine M. Ladisch Faculty Leadership Award and the Purdue Women’s Network Virginia C. Meredith Scholarship for the College of Health and Human Sciences.
